Chargers Romp Past Outmanned WCV

There was never any doubt about the outcome of last Monday's ACGC versus West Central Valley boys' basketball game. The hapless Wildcats have won just four games out of their last fifty two contests, and are just 1-8 for '20-'21 campaign. There was little drama in this one, as the Chargers led from start to finish in routing the Wildcats, 79-34. The win improves the Charger record to 4-2 on the season, 3-2 in WCAC play.

It came as no surprise when the Chargers scored early and often, racing to an 18-3 lead after the first quarter and building a 40-12 margin by halftime. WCV connected on three free throws in the first frame--and that was it for the quarter, as the home team went zero for seven on its field goal tries, and didn't make a field goal until the six minute mark of the second quarter. Meanwhile all five Charger starters put points on the board in the first quarter.

The balance continued throughout, and by game's end all five Charger starters had hit double figures. After its twenty two point production in the second quarter, ACGC came up with a huge third quarter, scoring twenty seven points to expand the lead to 67-19. Ben Marsh had a big quarter for ACGC, scoring ten points that included two consecutive scores from beyond the arc. WCV went over five minutes without scoring in the middle of the quarter while the Chargers went on a 15-0 run.

The Wildcats showed some life in the final frame, coming up with fifteen points, and outscoring the Chargers by a 15-12 margin. WCV connected on four treys in the quarter.

When all was said and done the Chargers had a good shooting night from the field, connecting on 52% of their field goal attempts. Free throws didn't as easily, as the team made four of eight. By limiting turnovers to just ten, it meant more offensive opportunities. One telling number is the number of close shots each team managed to get. ACGC had 46 shot attempts within six feet of the basket, while WCV could manage only 11.

Ben Marsh had a breakout night for the Chargers, netting 22 points that included a trio of treys. Eli Kading also scored 22 points, while brother Miles scored 11. Charlie Crawford and Lucas Marsh each tallied 10 points. The elder Marsh had a big night on the boards, as he grabbed 15 rebounds, giving him four double doubles for the season. Lucas and Miles each had 4 assists and Lucas also led in steals with 3.

Charger coach Lance Kading saw lots of positives regarding his team's performance. "Our plan was to be aggressive at both ends of the court and really push the pace. We were able to get some turnovers and turn them into fast break points early. I continue to be impressed with how well we rebound given our lack of size.

"I thought we shared the ball well and found high percentage shots. As a result we were efficient offensively and had a balanced scoring attack with all five starters in double figures."

The Chargers will be idle until January 4 when they will begin a four game home stand, starting with a non-conference tilt with CRB on the fourth.

Score by quarter:

ACGC 18 22 27 12--79

WCV 3 9 7 15--34

Charger individual stats: (TP-REB-AST-STL) EKading (22-8-0-2) BMarsh (22-4-1-0) Crawford (10-4-3-2) LMarsh (10-13-4-3) MKading (11-3-4-2) Wardyn (2-2-0-0) Rogers (0-2-3-1) Littler

(2-4-3-0) Kunkle (0-0-1-0) (Hanson (0-1-0-0) Richter (0-2-0-0)